I remind myself that USAIR may soon be American, and that's a scary thought. I've now had three "bad" experiences on USAIR and that's three too many, while American doesn't stick out in my mind for the quality of service.
Two experiences on USAIR were pretty egregious, so I should have known that anything is possible, but they had the only convenient flight from KCI to Las Vegas and Phoenix is not a bad place to change planes during the winter. Flying out of the run down looking Terminal 1 in Las Vegas -- and USAIR's are always the farthest from the security lanes -- was a bad start to an otherwise unenjoyable trip on USAIR. Once on board it was no better, with no video monitors and no beverage service.
There are alternatives still, and in the future I'll definite consider those instead. Most recently I discovered that being Silver on United Airlines, entitles me to no perks or preferences when flying on USAIR other than the allowed one checked bag (which I rarely if never use). If I were Silver on USAIR or had a MasterCard or was traveling with a 2 year old yes, but being a frequent flyer on another Star Alliance Member airline wasn't worth very much. I do like the upgrades available -- for a price -- and First Class travel on USAIR can be pretty luxe. But as long as I'm a loyal United flyer I'll stick with United when I can.